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Decarceral Pathways

TESTING AND SHARING DECARCERAL IDEAS

95 posts in ‘Decarceral Pathways’

campaigns

150 Years Is Enough

The case for abolishing New Jersey’s youth prisons.

Andrea McChristian

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Essay

Beyond Private Prisons

Simply targeting the corporations caging migrants and other people for profit won’t create a future without mass incarceration.

Silky Shah

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interventions

The End of Public Defenders

One path to ending mass incarceration is ending our modern conception of public defense. And being transparent about our work is one way to start.

Matthew Caldwell

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campaigns

A New Sheriff in Town

New Orleans’ newest jailer won’t get us out of our crisis of mass incarceration. But her election still matters as we build a safer, healthier community.

Sade Dumas

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In Depth

Atonement

The American penal system renders invisible the many people in its grip who are working hard to make amends.

Steve Herbert

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interventions

Mass Disenfranchisement

The scourge of plea bargaining is robbing millions of a different, and just as fundamental, kind of liberty.

Somil Trivedi & Julie Ebenstein

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In Depth

Home Rule

In weighing the future of thousands placed on home confinement during the pandemic, the government should prioritize where they are now: in their communities.

Jessica Morton & Samara Spence

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interventions

Abolition Is Public Health

The largest public health professional organization in the U.S. took a stand against carceral systems as fundamentally antithetical to public health. Here’s why that matters.

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In the States

Moving Forward

After a clean sweep in November, Republicans are now running Virginia. But the prospect of more progress, and justice, remains within reach for all Virginians.

Brad Haywood & Andy Elders

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In Depth

Cages in the Coalfields

A growing carceral state has slowly replaced the coal industry in large swaths of Central Appalachia. But even here, a different future is possible.

Judah Schept

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interventions

Building Bridges

There’s a direct link between the penal system and community wellbeing. Here’s why, and how, I decided to teach that connection to a group of public-health students.

Hernandez Stroud

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interventions

A Safer Cleveland

Our movement was born out of our shared grief. Our voices reminded voters that the police should never police themselves.

LaTonya Goldsby

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A closer look

Community Spread

People in counties with higher jail populations are getting sicker and dying younger. The data shows that mass incarceration is playing a role.

Sandhya Kajeepeta

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excerpt

Vulnerable Places

Entire communities are singularly exposed to punishment. Understanding how is central to combating mass incarceration.

Jessica T. Simes

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In Depth

Saving Austin

Emboldened reactionaries tried to get voters to super-fund our city’s police force. But we out-organized them, and they lost badly. Here’s how we did it.

Marina Roberts

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Politics

So Long, Cy

The end of the Cyrus Vance era at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office calls for a reckoning — and opens up opportunities for his successor.

Janos Marton

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As Told To

Surviving Everywhere

Clemency gave me a chance to tell my truth — a truth the criminal legal system made invisible.

Tewkunzi Green

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public health

Treating Unfreedom

Practicing correctional medicine is fundamentally an exercise in harm reduction. And it’s no match for freedom itself.

Rachael Bedard & Zachary Rosner

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In Their Words

Second Class

For public defenders in New York, representing clients unjustly criminalized for gun possession is a matter of principle. Now, they have the Supreme Court’s attention.

Avinash Samarth, Michael Thomas & Christopher Smith

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In Depth

Mass Clemency

In the age of mass incarceration, the president of can and should lead the nation by freeing from prison as many people as possible.

Udi Ofer

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interventions

More Than a Number

Older New Yorkers are dying in state prison at an alarming rate. Once and for all, they need to come home to their families.

Wilfredo Laracuente

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Essay

Radicalized at the Workhouse

The criminal legal system almost took my life from me. The anger that came after now fuels my life’s work.

Inez Bordeaux

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interventions

Saying Their Names

How public defenders in New York City organized to speak up for those who have died on Rikers — and to keep others from going there.

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voices

Divide and Conquer

For those of us on the inside who believe in prison abolition by any means necessary, prison closures really mean prison closures. The state and some of my fellow prisoners…

Felix Sitthivong

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interventions

The True Jailers of Rikers

As demands grow louder for decarcerating and shutting down New York City’s deadly jail complex, judges and prosecutors have escaped accountability. But they’re the ones driving the crisis.

Angel Parker

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In Depth

‘Organizers Change What’s Possible’

Before bold, decarceral changes can become a reality, community organizers tirelessly move the policy needle in other ways. Here’s how they did it in Illinois.

Sharlyn Grace

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interventions

Decarcerate Rikers Now

Nothing short of immediately getting people out of New York City's jail complex, and keeping others from going in, will prevent the death and horror now ravaging it.

Jessica González-Rojas

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As Told To

A Judge on a Mission

Here's how a former public defender elected to judicial office in New Orleans works to chip away at mass incarceration.

Angel Harris

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Decarceral Pathways

From Crisis to Care

For alternative responses to policing to work and reduce the footprint of the criminal legal system, they must work in concert and holistically to address both immediate and longer-term social…

Katherine Beckett, Forrest Stuart & Monica Bell

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Decarceral Pathways

Choosing Freedom

Would you rather have your wallet stolen on the street or spend two weeks in jail? How people answer this question can shed light on whether our detention policies make…

Jane Bambauer, Sandra Mayson, Andrea Roth & Megan T. Stevenson

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